The philosopher Robert Ellis, in his paper titled ‘A non-dualist approach to environmental ethics‘, critiques the idea of ‘self’ in western philosophy, “being the consciousness that accompanies the beliefs and drives of the ego” (2003, p.2). The very nature of this definition is an imposition of dualism within the psyche. If we consider this, then a subject/ object perception of the world around us is perhaps a reflection of our internal forms of comprehension.
Looking to certain religions, a state of non-dual perfection is promoted as an attainable goal. Yet the asceticism associated with schools of Buddhism, such as Theravada, required to achieve spiritual flawlessness or liberation (Nirvana), appears to me as an overwhelmingly huge undertaking that could alienate those not so acquainted with it’s relevant practices. The mere recognition of the dualistic barriers that separate various aspects of our experience might be a slightly less intimidating starting point. One that indigenous practices and religious philosophy can offer us some insight into.
I’ve been quite enamoured with Bang & Olufsen’s ‘Sound Matters’ podcast series lately. Its 28th instalment, ‘Sound of The River’, narrated by documentary film and audio-maker, Rikke Hout, concerns the Whanganui River in New Zealand and its legal identity as a person due to its importance to the region’s indigenous Māori people. Hout tells of her experience with the Maori, ‘”Every rock, turn, rapid has a name and is just infused with memory and culture.” It might be inferred that this mythological personification of the river is anthropocentric, in that it limits the perception of its qualities by giving its elements human properties. On deeper inspection, however, one might realise that this is necessitated by the Maori as a means to deepen their relationship with the river. Naess might say that their spontaneous experience of the river is just as important as its abstract structure. In the podcast, one of 2 Maori spokespersons for the Whanganui says “I am the river, and the river is me”. Extended identification here is apparent and important to their way of life. The value of the Maori perspective is ubiquitous; it exists in all things (Jason Paul Mika et al, 2022, pp.441-463).
Creation myths too, can give us an understanding of a culture’s core beliefs. For example, central to Aboriginal Australian origins is the world-creation time known as “Dreamtime”, dating back 65000 years, that laid down the patterns of life for the Aboriginal people. This ‘placeless place’, on a continuum of past, present and future is essentially a non-dual reality.
In ‘The Ecology Of Wisdom‘, Naess speaks of a poem by the Japanese poet So-to-ba “in which the sound of the mountain river revealed reality and the poet had satori in listening to it” (Naess, 2016, p.199); Satori is a deep experience of Kenshō, “seeing into one’s true nature”, in Zen Buddhist tradition. The Japanese Buddhist philosopher Dōgen encourages a non-dual interpretation of the poem by asking whether it was So-to-ba who had satori or the river. To take a non-dual stance on this, we would have to accept that the happening of satori is reliant on a whole constellation of gestalt relations.
Spinoza’s immanence of God as interpreted by Naess, ascribes its infinite power to the combined cooperation of every living thing. Therefore love of an immanent God is to love all beings. Similarly, Advaita Vedanta, a school of Hindu philosophy separates the world of illusion (Maya) from the non-duality (Advaita) of universal reality (Brahman). Hermeneutics may give us the freedom to draw necessary contextual conclusions, but it’s clear that non-dual ways of being and seeing have arrived across different cultures, religions and philosophies throughout history. It might be dualistic of me to say that these realisations were reached separately as it would challenge the perceived interdependency of all things. Yet the ancient indigenous culture of Australian Aboriginals and Buddhist origins and scriptures seem far removed enough from one another to highlight some importance in the ontology of oneness and its prevalence outside of western thought.
Bibliography
Ellis, R. (2001). A non-dualist approach to environmental ethics by Robert Ellis. [online] Available at: https://www.robertmellis.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/A-non-dualist-approach-to-environmental-ethics.pdf [Accessed 5 Mar. 2024].
Linklater, S. (2015). What is Aboriginal Dreamtime? [online] Artlandish Aboriginal Art. Available at: https://www.aboriginal-art-australia.com/aboriginal-art-library/aboriginal-dreamtime/ [Accessed 6 Mar. 2024].
Mika, J.P., Dell, K., Newth, J. et al. Manahau: Toward an Indigenous Māori theory of value. Philosophy of Management 21, 441–463 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40926-022-00195-3
Naess’, Arne. “The World of Concrete Contents.” Ecology of Wisdom, edited by Alan Drengson and Bill Devall, Penguin Classics, 2016, p.199